Internal-combustion engine.



E. T. YOUNG.

INTERNAL coMEusTIoN ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEO. 13. 1806.

1,073,553. Patented sept. 16, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

hzessesf r 1 I/zveneal'.-

E. T. YOUNG.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLIUATION FILED 11110.13, 190e.

1 ,073,553. Patented Sept. 16, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Wieesses:

E. T. YOUNG.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.13.190G.

Patented Sept. 16, 1913.

3 SHEBTB-SHISET 3.

UNITED OFFICE,

EDWARD T. YOUNG', 0F EOSTDN, MASSACHUSETTH, ABSIGNOR OF ONE-EALF TG EDWARD E. BADGER. 0F HYDE PARK, MABSACHUEIETTS,

INTEBNAL-OOMBUSTIO1I ENGINE.

To all 'whom i may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD T. YOUNG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Sutl'ollr and State of lllassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful improvements in ]ntcrna1-Com bustion Engines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such, as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates particularly to internal-combustion engines for operating with oil or other liquid fuel, although it is not limited, in its broadest application, to engines of this type, and the object ot the invention is to produce an engine in which a high degree. oi economy and eiiiciency may be secured without'the use ofexcessive Worleing pressure, together with the complete combustion of the fuel-this last advantage being particularly of value in the use of oil as fuel, which has hitherto involved certain disadvantages which the present invention avoids.

A further incidental object of the invention is to secure, in connection with the few tures above described, the automatic ignition o the fuel Without the provision of' special devices for this purpose. i

This engine is adapted to carry out the mode of operation described and claimed in a pending application' tiled byl the )resent applicant Serial No. 319,961, for met tod ot supplying energy toV un engine, and the principal feature of novelty of the invention by which the advantages above referred to are secured resides in the injection 'of the fuel, preferably in the forni of a tine jet or spray of liquid, into a. body of moderatelycornpreseed but highly-heated air, 'resulting in the immediate vaporization and ignition and the complete combustion of the fuel.

The applicant is aware, 'that previously, in engines -of a well-known ty-ve,tl1e 'fuel has been injected into a body o airot high temperature so as to be spontaneously ignited, but in such engines the necessary temperature is secured by an excessive. degree of compression of the air, which entails Working pressures so high as to render the engine very expensive and bulky in proper,-

Speeeetion of Letters Patent.

Application filed Becem'bc 18, 1906.

Patented Sept. 16, 19132 senat no. saisir.

tion to the power delivered, and to practically prohibit the construction of engines of the argest powers. ln the present invention, on the other hand, the compression is not solely relied upon toheat the air, but the air is compressed into a chamber of which the walls are maintained at a temperature substantially above the usual temperature of the cylinder ofen internal'- colnbustion motor, so that. by the combined effects of moderate compression, and conduction from the walls of the chamber, the air is heated sufficiently to vaporize and ignite the fuel. The invention, in this aspeet, is to be clearly distinguished from engines provided with heated chambers or b odies so located and constructed that the vliquid fuel, when introduced, with or with out air, is )rojected against the surface oi such heated chamber or body so as to be vaporized und i `nited by contact with the hot metal. Suclgi engines are open to the serious objection that the fuel is not conipletely consumed, since its vaporization in this manner causes the deposit-ion of a hard and refractory form ot carbon on the vaporizing surfaces, necessitating the frequent removal of such deposits and involving a loss in economy equal to the heet value oil' the carbon so deposited.

In the )referred forni of the `present invention the fuel-injecting devices are so located and constructed as to project a fine stream ot liquid fuel into a body of heated airof such depth that the .fuel is entirely vaporized and consumed before it can come in contact with any surface.

In engines of the ty e last above referred to itis usual to inject tic fuel either previous to the time of combustion or almost instantaneously at the time of combustion, the ignition being com leted substantially nt the beginning of lli that the charge o crates with an initially high but rapidly iiailling pressure.

In the preferred form of the present invention the yfuel is not fully introduced at or before the commencement of the working; stroke, but is introduced gradually during,l asubstantial portion of the working stroke, solas to maintain during such period a substantially uniform working' pressure,

e working strolre, .so

thereby securing high etliciency without excessive maximum pressure and temperature. The inventor is aware that this mode of fuel introduced has been practised in l`engines Vof the type referred to, but it is new, sol far as he is informed, to introduce the fuel in this way in an engine working at moderate pressure and introducing the fuel into a'body of air in which it is gradually consumed.

lin order that the full advantages of this type of engine may be secured it is necessary not only to continue the injection of fuel during part of the Working stroke, but also to insure a rate of flow adequate'to maintain a constant pressure.

To this end the invention comprises the use of fuel-injecting means acting to inject the fuel with increasing velocity to compensate for the increasing speed of the piston, so that a constant pressure.l is maintained under an increasing rate ofv expansion.

@ther objectsrand features of the invention, relating more particularly to thmede-l tails of construction and operation, will bev set forth in the description of the illustrated embodiment of the invention.

The drawings represent more or less diagrammatically anl engine embodying the present invention, Figure 1 being a side elevation, lig. 2 an end elevation, Fig. 3 a horizontal section through the cylinder and combustion chambers, F ig. l a vertical sectional detail View of.4 one combustion chamber, and F ig. 5 a detail elevation of the A.fuel pump.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention is an engine of the double acting type "having a cylinder l and a piston 2 connected with the engine shaft in the ordinary manner. The p1ston rod passes through a stalling box so as f to form an expansion chamber in each end of the cylinder 'as is usual in double acting engines. Each end of the cylinder communicates with a valve chamber 3 provided with an air inlet valve e of the automatic, suction-operated type, air being supplied through an inlet pipe 5 communicating with the atmosphere. Each valve chamber is provided also with anexhaust valve 6 communicating with an exhaust passage 7. The 'exhaust valves are raised at proper times by means of levers 8 pivoted on the frame of the engine, and carrying cam rolls enga'ing exhaust cams 9 on the cam shaft l0 of the engine.x The cam shaft is driven in the usual manner by -skew gears ll'tsee Fig. l) arranged to rotate the cam shaft at one-half the speed of the engine shaft. The vaporization and combustion fof the liquid fuel with which the engine is operated occurs in the combustion chambers l2 communicating through narrow passages'lB with the ends of the cylinder. 'llhe cylinder is yprovided with lnaman/ee Water jackets 14 to maintain a moderate Working temperature therein, but the combustion chambers are not provided withfwater jackets or other cooling means, and their form is such that they acquire and maintain during the operation of the engine a temperature substantially higherthan that of the cylinder.

rlFhe fuel oil is injected into-the combustion chambers l2 through fuel inlet ports 15. These ports are controlled by governing valves'l and timing valves 17. rl `he former are provided with tapered extremities as shown in l? ig. 4, by which the elfective area of the fuel inlet ports may be varied, While the timing valves 17 ,which are disposed annularly about the governing valves, move independently therefrom, and serve either to open or to entirely close the communication between the inlet ports and the fuel chambers 19 surrounding the valves. rlhe valve stems pass outward through the stuliing boxesl8, and are connected with actuating mechanism hereinafteri described. The fuel chambers 19 are supplied with fuel through pipes.. 20 `connecting them with the fuel pumps. To prevent over-heating of the fuel valves or' premature vaporization of the fuel in the chambers 19, the -latter are surrounded by waterv ackets 21 communicating through pipes 22 with the water jackets of the cylinder. i

`ne ofthe'fuel pumps is shown particularly in Fig. 5. The pump cylinder 23 con` tains a free piston 24 and a plunger 25 car.

rying a cam roll engaging a cam 26 on the cam shaft 1G.V The pump cylinder communicates through a pipe 9.7 with a pressure chamber. 28 partly filled with air or other elastic gas, and containing a body of liquid 29 which also fills boththe pipe 27 and the space in the pump cylinder about the piston 24. A plunger`30 in the lower end of the pressure chamber 28 is connected with a cam lever `31 carrying a cam roll 32 engaging a cam 33 on the cam shaft. The rotation of the cam shaft l() and cam 26 causes the plunger 25 to lift the piston 24 periodically to a fixed point near the top of the pump cylinder, and then to retreat quickly from the piston, the latter-'movement occurring at or before 'the time of injection of fuel into the combustion chamber. .Upon the retreat of the plunger Q5 the piston is controlled by the pressure of the liquid .29 communicated. throughY the pipe 27, this pressure being due to the compression of the air in the upper part of the pressure chamber 28. Consequently` upon the opening of the timing valve 17 to admit fuel into the com-y bustion chamber, the piston-24v is at once forced downward by the elastic expansion of theair, and this movement continues until the tim-ing valve is closed, the amplitude of movementofthe plunger 25 being such as to permit a maximum stroke of the free piston lgreater than the maximum requirement in running the enginey under full power. Owing to this arrangement the pump is always in condition to supply whatever amount of fuel is admitted to the combustion chamber through the fuel valves at predetermined pressure, and the construction is such that leakage of fuel past thepiston 24 or the plunger 25, unless great in amount, will not affect the o eration of the device, since it is compensateld for by the expansion of the air yin the pressure chamber.

The function of the plunger 30 in the pressure chamber is to control the pressure therein during the injection of fuel. As the air in'y the pressure chamber expands this pressure becomes less, so that in the al sence of such a device the pressure at which the fuel is injected would dccreaseduring It is desirable onl the period of injection. the contrary, in order to maintain a uniform working pressure during the portion of the working stroke of the piston in which the fuel is injected, yto increase rather than to decrease the pressure of fuel injection, so that as the piston velocity increases during the working stroke, the rate of fuel injection may increase commensurately. This control of the pressure is effected by so forrning the cam 33 that during the time o-f fuel injection which in the illustrated ernbodi` ment of the invention occupies substantially 35 of rotation of the crank shaft the plunger 30 is rapidly raised so as to increase the pressure in the pressure chamber 28 and the pressure upon the piston 29. Y

TheA pump cylinder 23 is supplied with the fuel oil from any suitable source of supply through a check valve 34 which permits the entrance of the oil upon the raising of the piston 24.

The means for controlling the fuel valves 16 and 17 are shown particularly in Figs. 1 and 2. The timing valves 17 are pivotally connected with bell crank levers 35 journaled at 36 on the bracket or arm secured to the frame of the engine, the bell cra-nk levers at their lower ends carrying cam 'olls 37 engaging cams on the cam shaft 10, the cams being timed to open the timing valves substantially at the beginning of the Working stroke of the piston, and to release them after about 35 of rotation of the crank shaft.l The timing valves are closed by compression springs 38 (Fig. 2). The governing valves are connected to the bent levers 89 on a rock shaft 40 journaled on the bracket secured to the base of the engine, the horizontal arm 41 of said levers being connected with a vertical stem 42 which is connected with a governor 43 of ordinary form. The governor is rotated by skew gears 44 from the cam shaft 10.` By this arrangement the governingr valves are opened more or less, according to the speed of the en ine.

uring the normal operation of the engine the heat of combustion is sufficient to maintain the combustion chambers at the proper temperature, but special devices are necessary in starting the en ine when the combustion chambers are col and for this purpose each ycombustion chamber is rovided with an inwardly extending thim leshaped projection 45 which is hollow and may be heated from without by any suitable burner.

The operation of this engine is as follows: Each end of the cylinder, with its connected devices, operates in conjunction with the piston as a 4-cycle engine, so that during each two rotations ofthe crank shaft there are two contiguous working strokes of the piston and two succeeding contiguous idle strokes. Supposing the piston to be in lts inward position, upon its first out-stroke air is drawn throughI the inlet valve into the cylinder. Upon the succeeding irl-stroke of the piston this air is compressed a large part of it being forced into the combustion chamber, since the piston isarranged to have only a slight clearance from the cylinder head. This compression or' the air raises the temperature somewhat` but as only a moderate pressure 'of piston compression is used the air in the cylinder is not heated to a high degree. VThe air in the combustion chamber, however, receivesa substantial accession of heat from thehot walls-thereof sufficient to cause vaporization and ignition of the fuel when the fuel is injected. Upon the completion of this compression stroke the timing valve is opened, and the pump operates to inject a stream or spray of liquid fuel into the combustion chamber. The combustion chamber is so formed that the fuel must traverse a considerable space before coming in contact with any of the containing walls, and consequently the fuel is entirely vaporized and drawn within the body of air before it can come in contact with any surface, which results in complete combustion of the fuel without any deposit or resi due. `This injection of fuel commences at the end of the compression stroke,and lasts during a substantial portion of the succeeding out-stroke or working stroke of the piston. This is a substantial improvement over engines in which the entire char e is injected at once at the beginning of gie working stroke, for in such engines the pressure suddenly rises to an inconveniently high point, and then as suddenly falls during the working stroke, whereas in the present invention, without the use of a moderately high work in pressure, the working pressure -is maintained constant and at a maximum during a substantial part of the working stroke, falling thereafter as in the ordinary engine.

AWhere in the claims the term high temperatiire is applied to the combustion cham-- ber, this term is intended to designate a temperature substantially higher than the normal Working temperature of the cylinder of an internal coi'iibustion engine, or, innother Words, a temperature sufiiciently high to permit vaporization and spenta--V the air, still this is not. essential, as the en'- gine may be arranged by the use of the hot combustion chamber to operate at any compression, however moderate.

The invention is not limited to the details of construction and operation of the illustrated embodiment, but may be lembodied in other forms broadly dened in the claims.

Having now described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. An internal combustion engine, having, in combination, a cylinder, a piston, a combust-ion chamber communicating With the cyl inder and maintained at a sutlicient-ly high temperature to heat above the temperature of ignition oi the fuel the. air which is contained in said chamber under a compression insuiicient to heat it to said temperatur-e of ignition, and means for introducing the fueland increasingthe pressure thereon during a substantial portion, of the working stroke of the piston as the pistonadvances whereby the initial pressure in the cylinder will he maintained.v 4 y 2. An internal combustion engine, having, in combination, a' cylinder, a piston, a coinbustion chamber communicating With `the cylinder through a narrow passage and be ing maintained at a suiiiciently high teinperature to heat aboveV the temperature of ignition oi the fuel the air which is contained in said chamber under a compression insuiiicient to heat it to said temperature of ignition, and means for introducing fuel and increasing vthe pressure thereon during a substantial portion of -the working stroke of the; pist-on whereby an increasing quantity of fuel is introduced into said chamber as the piston advances.

3. An internal combustion engine, having, in combination, a cylinder, a piston, means for Yheating above the temperature of ignition of the fuel the air which is under insuiiicient compression to heat it to such temperature of ignition, comprising means for exerting an increasing pressure upon the fuel during the first portion of the piston stroke whereby the fuel will be introduced into the air so heated in increasing quantities during said irst .portion of the-'working stroke of the piston.

li. in internal combustion engine, having, in combination, a cylinder, a piston, an unjacketed combustion chamber communicat ing` with the cylinder and maintained at a su liciently high vtemperature to heat above the temperature of ignition of the fuel, the air which is contained in said chamber under insuiiicient compression to heat it to said temperature of ignition, and means for increasing the pressure on the Jfuel during the first portion of the Working `strokeof the piston whereby the initial pressure in said chamber will be maintained during said iirst portion of said stroke.

5. An internal combustion engine, havingl in combination, a cylinder, a iston, a combustion 4chamber communicating with the' cylinder and `maintained ata sufliciently high temperature to heat above the temperature of ignition of the fuel the air which is contained in said chamber under insu- .cient compression to heat it to said'temperature of'ignition, and a hollow, inward pro-4 ]ection in the combustion chamber arranged to be heated by external heating devices, and means for introducing fuel into said chamber during a substantial portion of the working stroke of the piston, substantiallyA as described.

6. An interna-l combustion engine having in combination a cylinder, a piston and a pump opera-ble during the first portion of the workingy stroke of the piston 'to supply fuel `thereto in increasing quantity as the piston advances as set forth.

7. An internal combustion .engine having in combination 'a cylinder, a piston and a pump operable during the first portion o the Working stroke of the pistonto `supply fuel to thel engine in increasing quantitiesv means ada ted to increase the pressure upon andy there y to supply fuel in increasing 'quantities Ito the engine during the first portion of the Working stroke of the piston.

9. An internal combustion engine having in combination a cylinder, a piston, a. pump connected to said 'cylinder to supply fuel thereto in increasing quantities, and means adapted to operate said pump during the first portion of the Working stroke of the piston.

10. An internal combustion engine having in'combination a cylinder, al piston, a pump connected to said cylinder to supply fuel thereto, and means adapted to operateit during the first portion of thev Working stroke of the piston. with increasing ca' pacit-y whereby during such portionofthe piston stroke the pressure Will remain substantially constant in the cylinder.,

11.*An internal combustion engine, having, 1n combination, a cylinder, a piston, and a pump for supplying fuel to the engine 1n increasing quantity as its piston advances, a piston in the pump, and camactuated means for moving the piston to make its fuel delivery' stroke during a portion of the Working stroke of the piston and at such a rate that the pressure Within the cylinder shall be maintained substantially constant, substantially as described.

1:2. An internal combustion engine, having, in combination, a cylinder, a piston, and a pump for supplying fuel to the engine in increasing quantity as its piston advances, said pump comprising a piston, means for moving' the piston positively in one direction to a fixed point during the intake stroke of the pump, and independent means for moving1 the piston yieldingly in the opposite direction a variable distance dependent upon the amount. of fuel admitted to the engine, substantially as described.

13. An internal combustion engine, having, in combination, a cylinder, a piston, and a pump for supplying fuel to the engine in increasing,f quantity as its piston advances, said pump comprising a piston, means for moving the piston positively in one direction to a fixed point during;r the intake stroke of the pump` and independent means for moving the piston yieldingly in the opposite direction a variable distance` controlled by the fuel itself and according: to the amount of fuel admitted to the engine. substantially as described.,

14. An internal combustion engine, having in combination, a cylinder, a piston, fuel controllingT means for controlling,r the admission of fuel to the engine, and a pump for supplying' fuel to the engine, said pump comprising' a piston, and means for moving the piston positively in one direction to a fixed point during the intake stroke of the piston and yieldingly in the opposite direction a distance automatically variable accordinpr to the amount of fuel admitted to the engine bythe fuel controllingI means, substantially as described.

15. An internal combustion engine having in combination a cylinder, a piston and a pump for supplying fuel to the engine, said pump comprising a cylinder, a piston, and means including a. pneumatic pressureeontaining receptacle connected to said pump cylinder on one side of said piston for actuating" the piston to cause it to make its power stroke as described.

1G. An internal combustion engine having in combination a cylinder, a piston and a pump for supplying;` fuel to said engine, said pump comprising a cylinder and a piston and a pneumatic pressure-containing rcceptacle connected with the pump cylinder,

and means for preventing a reduction of pressure in the receptacle due to the movement of said piston.

17. An internal combustion engine, having, in combination, a cylinder, a piston, and a pump for supplying;r fuel to the engine, the pump comprising a pump cylinder, a piston therein, a pneumatic pressure chamber connected with the pump cylinder,

a movable iiston for reducinnr the ca acit A of the connected cylinder and chamber, and means for actuating said movable piston, substantially as described.

18. An internal combustion engine having in combination a cylinder, a piston and a pump for supplying fuel to the engine, said pump comprising a cylinder, a piston and means for positively moving the piston in one direction to cause it to make its intake stroke. and means for operatingr the piston in the opposite direction by pneumatic pressure to cause it to make its power stroke, said means comprising a pneumatic pressure receptacle operatively connected to said cylinder, and means for supplyingl pressure to said receptacle.

1 9. An internal combustion engine having1 in combination a cylinder, a piston, a fuel supply pump, and means adaptedto actuate said pump during the first portion of the working stroke of said piston, and at a rate proportionate! to the increasing speed of said piston whereby fuel in anv increasing' quantity will be fed to the engine duringr an appreciable portion of the piston stroke.

20. In an internal combustion engine, the

combination with the cylinder, of means to admit a fuel charge yinto the cylinder during the time that the piston is near itsy stroke limit and the volume of the combustion chamber is substantially constant, and means to increase the pressure on the fuel whereby the fuel supply will be increased when, on the outward stroke of the piston, the volume of the combustion chamber is substantially increased and the maximum pressure will remain constant duringr the injection of the fuel.

21. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with the cylinder, of mechanism to admit fuel into the cylinder during,r ,the time that the piston is moved from a point near its stroke limit to its stroke limit, and a short distance reciproeally away from its stroke limit, and means for increasing the pressure upon the fuel dui-ine,r the outward movement of the piston whereby the supply of fuel 'will be increased during the continuance of the movement of the piston in said reciprocal direction and the maximum pressure will remain constant duringF the injection of the fuel.

22. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with the cylinder, of means to /moves away from the dead point on the same stroke and thereby substantially increases'thevolume of the combustion chamberv comprlsmg means for mcreasmg the pressure on the fuel., operatmg simultane- Lofzeee.

ously with the increase of the volume of said combustion chamber. 12

In testimony whereof I aix my signa# ture,- in presence of two Witnesses* EDWARD T. YOUNG. Witnesses:

FABNUM F. DORSEY, EDWARD 3E. BADGER. 

